Minister backs Odyssey but says ‘no’ on funds

Press, 8 February 1986, Page 9

Minister backs Odyssey but says ‘no’ on funds

The Odyssey House drug offenders rehabilitation programme in Christchurch has the full backing of the Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, but he does not believe it should be financed by the Government. During a visit yesterday to the Gloucester Street premises, which are in his constituency, Mr Palmer praised the vigorous com cept of the programme but stopped short of offering to dip into the Justice Department’s purse. “I have financial assistance available,” he said, “but it is not intended for these sorts of programmes. I believe they would lose their spontaneity and their community support if they became Governmentrun.” However, he considered that his department had a definite role to play in the development of the Odyssey House programme. “The Probation Service needs to understand what goes on here, and it is also important for the judges to know there is a capacity under .the Criminal Justice Adj for an element of collusion

with this programme.” In terms of drug offenders rehabilitation programmes, the Odyssey House concept was “at the high end,” said Mr Palmer. It was a vigorous and tough programme and took a long time to complete. It was not a “soft alternative” to prison and unless individual residents were motivated the programme would not work for them. The judicial system could help in several ways to provide that motivation but it could not force people before the courts for drug abuse to enter the programme, he said. “The problem is, there are no surefire methods of knowing , what works. We have to try everything because not everyone is suited to the one thing. “This programme has a considerable track record in Australia and in Auckland. It is new in Christchurch and therefore deserves as much community support as it can get.” During his visit to |ie house, Mr Palmer held an

informal discussion with the Christchurch Odyssey committee members. He told them that during a visit to Christchurch Women’s Prison two years ago he had found the majority of the inmates at that time firmly believed drug use should be made legal. “When society gets to the point where people really believe that, it has some pretty serious problems,” he said. “Many of those I spoke to thought drug-taking was the greatest thing they had ever experienced and their main aim was to get out and get back on it.” Mr Palmer agreed it was essential for programmes . such as that offered by Odyssey House to be available to people before they came out of prison. “We have the flexibility in the Criminal Justice Act now to do something for these problems,” he said. The Christchurch Odyssey House has been going about nine months in a rented property and has 16 residents. Applicants are assessed

for their suitability before being accepted. Once in, they progress through four different levels with growing responsibility. The chairman of the local organising committee, Mr Barry Rich, said, “It is a very searching programme. “The aim is not just to overcome the individual’s drug problem, but to straighten out what are usually very tangled lives.” Mr Rich said they would be grateful for any assistance from any Government department. “We see ourselves as assisting justice by taking these people with problems and any measure of support must be a good investment by Government” Drug addiction was no respecter of family background, Mr Rich said. A large proportion of people in Odyssey House programmes were highly intelligent people and came from what would be classed as “good backgrounds.” The programme had no set duration; an average time |ras about two years, he said.